


I Saw The Way You Looked At Her

by The_White_Wolf



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s04e18 Eleven-Fifty-Nine, F/M, Laurel Lance Lives, Olicity break up, One Shot, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28577574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_White_Wolf/pseuds/The_White_Wolf
Summary: After Laurel comes out of surgery, Oliver is relieved. Someone else, however, notices that Oliver is still carrying a torch for Laurel.
Relationships: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen
Comments: 14
Kudos: 25





	I Saw The Way You Looked At Her

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this fic this morning, so please forgive me if it's not good. I just couldn't get the idea out of my head.

Oliver watched as Laurel was being slowly wheeled into her room. She seemed relaxed, her skin no longer had the sickening blue tinge from her struggle to breathe any air into her lungs. When Laurel was wheeled in, he felt Thea’s head rest against his arm.

“How is she?” Oliver found himself asking automatically.

“Your friend is strong. I can’t say much more than that. Doctor-Patient confidentiality.” Laurel’s doctor said before she pointed to the room. “She has been asking for you.” Dr. Schwartz added, giving Oliver a look he couldn’t decipher.

“She’s the strongest person I know,” Felicity added, as she followed Diggle into the room.

Right now, the doctor’s strange look didn’t matter. What mattered was that he could finally breathe, his chest was relieved of its tight bindings. Laurel was safe and had made it out of surgery. She was out of the woods. 

Thea held his hand and tugged him gently as a silent gesture to follow her into Laurel’s room. He followed, as he did, Thea let go of his hand and moved across the room to sit on the chair next to Laurel.

Speedy wept as she held Laurel’s hand.

Oliver felt someone hold his hand gently. He unconsciously untangled his hand from the person's hold and moved around to see Laurel properly. 

Her eyes lazily blinked, until she saw him, her green eyes seemed to widen. He exhaled audibly as he felt entranced by her. Oliver kept watching Laurel as the others spoke to her and wished her the best before they left.

Laurel's green eyes watched the others file out one by one, Thea not leaving before she kissed Laurel on the cheek. Her eyes then seemed to study him for a second, before Laurel finally spoke. “You should probably get some rest too. Darhk….”

“Darhk doesn’t matter right now. You do, Laurel.” Oliver gave her what he hoped was the most reassuring smile he could manage. “I’m staying right here.” He said softly, as he moved over to the seat that Speedy had vacated.

Oliver then chuckled, causing Laurel to look at him curiously. “What?” She started to fidget, and adjust the pillow behind her.

Oliver leaned forward to adjust the hard pillow behind her and then proceeded to adjust her snow-white cellular blanket. “You remember the last time you were in the hospital, and I sat in a seat just like this?”

A small smile appeared on her face. “Aspen.”

He couldn’t exactly remember how Laurel had acquired a fractured tibia, but the lecture from Laurel’s father was burned into his mind, as were the angry glares he received from her father while Laurel hobbled around on crutches for the next eight or so weeks.

“Your dad was so mad when you came home with a cast around your leg.” Laurel sniffed in amusement and looked like she immediately regretted it.

“Your Dad should be arriving soon.”

Oliver held out his hand without thinking and held Laurel’s hand. “I’m glad that you are alright, I don’t know what would have happened if I lost you, Laurel. You’re my rock.” Laurel squeezed his hand to show that she acknowledged him, but kept her eyes closed for a second before opening them.

“You would move on and do what needs to be done, Ollie. You never needed me. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Before he could rebuke her argument, to tell her that there was no Oliver Queen without Laurel Lance, a gentle knock on the door interrupted him and had both of them looking at the door to see Quentin. The patriarch of the Lance family held a small backpack and a pillow under one of his arms. The man was pale. He stared at Laurel for a beat before he spoke, his voice raspy. “Laurel, honey?” His shoulders sagged in relief as his eldest daughter gave him a weary smile.

“I’m alright, Daddy,” Laurel answered tiredly.

Lance exhaled and gently helped Laurel remove the rock hard pillow behind her. “I… uh, got this and a clean pair of pajamas and your slippers, they are in your bag. The older man swallowed hard. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, sweetheart, but I’m sorry for the role I played in all of this.” A tear escaped his eye. I’ll make it up to you, I promise, the bastard will pay for laying a finger on you!”

A few seconds later, a nurse came in and told them that they needed to let Laurel rest. He and Quentin left the room, as the door closed behind Oliver, he heard Lance’s gruff voice. “Anything you need to bring this son of a bitch in, I’ll do my best to arrange it.”

All Oliver could do was nod. He looked back into the room to see the nurse helping Laurel sit up before she drew the curtain around her bed. Oliver squeezed the man’s shoulder and spoke. “I promise, no one will hurt Laurel. I'll be back in a half an hour.”

“Yeah,” Quentin said. “Yeah. You make sure that no one hurts her.” He swallowed again and exhaled. “I could have lost her,” Lance added in a brittle voice.

“I have never met another person who was as resilient as Laurel. She always gets back up.” Oliver said wistfully, before looking back into the room to see Laurel now asleep in a pair of yellow and black flannel pajamas. The nurse seemed to have left without either of them noticing.

Oliver walked out of the hospital, jumped on his bike, and headed to his and Felicity's loft. There, he saw Felicity packing everything she owned into a couple of suitcases, most of her stuff hadn’t been unpacked since they had made up and were trying again after Oliver sent William away.

“Felicity?” He asked, watching her quickly zip up the bag.

“I can’t do this anymore, Oliver.” Felicity croaked. She took off her glasses, wiped them, before looking at him properly and showing him her red eyes.

“Laurel is fine, she will be back with us in the field before you know it.”

“I’m not talking about Laurel’s injury.” She clarified hoarsely. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “I heard how you reassured Laurel after she was stabbed.” It wasn’t the voice of someone worried about losing their teammate or friend.” Felicity bit her lip before continuing. “I brushed it off because Laurel has been a part of your life since forever.”

Felicity shook her head, tears now running down her cheeks. “I saw the way you looked at her.” She added thickly. “You seemed lighter as soon as you saw Laurel, being pushed into her room. It was as if a lead weight had been taken off of your shoulders.”

Oliver closed his eyes. Felicity didn’t seem to understand that Laurel had been with him, even when he was on the island. The mere thought of her had kept him alive ten times over. Laurel was his rock, even when they were butting heads, they always had each other’s back if the chips were down. Losing Laurel would be worse than losing a limb, it would be as if his heart was ripped out of his chest.

“Laurel and I… We haven’t been together for years. We are just friends.”

“Oliver,” Felicity said his name slowly. “When I was shot, your first thought was to run out and seek revenge, to enact retributive justice. With Laurel, it was as if time had stopped. All that mattered was Laurel. You didn’t even think about Darhk, Malcolm, HIVE, or Andy. It was just her. It was the same when Thea was almost killed by Ra’s. You consider Laurel to be your family. They come first.”

“Felicity…”

Felicity shook her head again, the solemn look she gave him made his heart sink. “You love her, Oliver. You may not see it, but you do. John and your sister saw it, but they were polite enough not to mention it.”

Felicity walked up to him and kissed his cheek. “I hope you two make each other happy.” She managed to say. Felicity inhaled and exhaled. “I love you too much to watch you be with her. And I have too much pride to be with you while you carry a torch for her.” She kissed his cheek again, picked up her bags, and headed to the door. “I’ll finish packing when you are at work tomorrow.” Felicity pointed at a bag next to the coffee table. “That’s Laurel’s suit." Without uttering another word, she left. 

Oliver showered, put on clean clothes, and headed back to the Bunker to place Laurel’s suit next to the command center. He would have to organize something with Cisco to create Laurel a new suit that was more protective. Thea likely needed an upgrade as well.

He opened the bag and placed her damaged suit on the table. A small piece of paper fell out of one of the pouches. Oliver bent over to pick it up to see the photograph of Laurel, the very same worn, crumpled, and faded one that Laurel had given him before he was marooned on Lian Yu. The same photograph that had reminded him of her. The photo that saved his life. That kept him alive.

Oliver couldn’t believe that she kept it. Surely the photo didn’t represent the same thing it did to him, as it did to her? For her, it should be a tangible reminder that he had betrayed her in one of the worst ways possible. And yet, she kept it all the same, as if it were a sacred item.

Oliver shook his head and returned the photo back in the pouch, then headed out of the Bunker and back to the hospital. He sneaked into Laurel’s room in the hospital and sat on the chair next to her. Oliver watched silently as her chest expanded with each breath.

While he watched her breathe, Felicity’s words echoed in the back of his mind about how Oliver looked at Laurel differently, how he responded differently when Laurel was hurt compared to when Felicity was.

Laurel was his best friend, his other half, he realized. He had been too stubborn to realize that. He just wished that Felicity, or Laurel for that matter, didn’t have to be hurt for him to open his eyes about his love for Laurel. That she was his other half, his beloved.

Oliver leaned over and pressed his lips against her forehead, before closing his eyes. He would talk to Laurel about his feelings after she had left the hospital. Laurel deserved to know the truth and decide for herself if there was a chance the two of them could try being in a relationship again.

  
  



End file.
